Using Web of Science to Find Journal Articles

You can search this databases from home, but you will need to authenticate using your barcode and name.

Use research databases to locate references (or citations) to articles, book chapters and conference papers. In many cases, you will just get a reference and abstract (summary). You will need to retrieve the complete text of the article by using the library catalogue to find out whether the library holds a paper or electronic copy of the article (see "Finding Serials/Journals using the Library Catalogue").

Some things to note on the Web of Science main search page:

Searching

Logon to Web of Science

Type in the search you have prepared (use the searching databases helpsheet) and click on the 'perform search' button.

Search Results

The Results Summary screen allows you to save, print, export to EndNote and email results. You can also select particular references (using the tick boxes) and email/print/save just those.

Go back up to the list and choose one of the records that interests you and have a look at the complete reference. Think about other words that you could use to search for articles on this topic.

If you don't get many results think about how you could add synonyms (alternative terms) to your search or think about your topic in a different way. Use dictionaries and thesauri (and friendly Library staff!) to help you. Remember, another database may be more appropriate for your topic.

If you get too many results think about being more specific and using the limits to refine your search set.